The government will finally give its official endorsement to a new generation of nuclear power today, but will stress its commitment to obtaining 20% of electricity from wind and other renewables.

The long-awaited energy review will stress the twin demands of energy security and rising carbon emissions to justify an atomic programme that will cost more than £12bn if six plants are constructed.

The 120-page report from the department of trade and industry (DTI) will discuss nuclear, but put a lot of emphasis on policies designed to encourage renewables such as wind, wave and biomass.

It will also devote plenty of space to how it will promote local, small-scale power production and microgeneration and stress the importance of cutting demand through energy efficiency.

The document will insist the UK can increase electricity production from wind and tidal from its current level of 4% to 20% by increasing the charges on power suppliers through the renewables obligation.

The DTI will also stress that it will expect a shake-up of the European Emissions Trading Scheme, which sets limits on how much greenhouse gas each nation produces. This would set a stable price for carbon and push users away from carbon-based fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

Gas - a considerably cleaner fuel than oil - is powering many of the UK's electricity-generating power stations as well as going straight to homes and factories.

But prices have begun to rocket upwards and the run-down of the domestic North Sea reserves leaves Britain increasingly dependent on foreign imports from countries such as Norway and Russia.

The shutting off of gas supplies from Russia to the Ukraine last winter over a price row sent shockwaves through industry and the political establishment throughout Europe.

It also played into the hands of Britain's nuclear industry, which has managed to shake off some of the image problems of the past and reposition itself as an answer to global warming.

Nuclear currently supplies about 19% of the country's power generation compared with 33% for coal and 40% gas.

But energy demand is set to grow as coal stations are being phased out, because of tougher pollution rules, and atomic reactors are nearing the end of their lives. By the mid-2020s Britain would have no nuclear plants if no action was taken, but today the government will signal that it would envisage about six new plants being built - at no extra cost to the public purse.

Alistair Darling, the industry secretary, will insist that nuclear is economically viable on its own and new plants can be constructed by the private sector with political will and some changes to the planning and carbon rules.

Many critics insist nuclear remains financially expensive and ultimately highly damaging to the environment because it leaves a legacy of highly toxic waste that will take thousands of years to degrade. The amount of electricity generated by nuclear varies hugely across Europe as across the globe.

Some countries such as Sweden are phasing out their nuclear plants, but many countries such as China and America are rushing ahead with a new generation of stations.